Should the Leafs grab Yakupov if he's Waived?

[Nik]

Yakupov's GF60 went up by almost 2 when on the ice with Connor McDavid. They played well together.

Well, sure. It's fairly likely McDavid will make the stats of whoever he plays with look better.

Actually, Connor generally had better stats playing with Yakupov. 67% offensive zone time. I thought they'd pair them together this year. Maybe someone should show the Oilers these stats.

The two of them had just over 200 minutes together so you're not talking about much of a sample size. I think when looked at in context with his numbers with other centers though you have to ask if Nail Yakupov makes everyone else worse how likely is it that he genuinely makes Connor McDavid better.

Here's McDavid:

http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/showplayer.php?pid=1315&withagainst=true&season=2015-16&sit=5v5

He's basically as good with anyone he spent any real time with as he is with Yakupov.

[TBLeafer]

You've also got McDavid and Pulju much closer to the same age, Eberle and Versteeg, the quintessential 3RW that can play up a lineup there now, while Pulju develops.

If Pulju doesn't make the team, Yak still has a place there.  If he does...

Do you really think they'll get anything back for Yak anyway if they give him replacement level minutes?

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

The main consideration is whether Babcock's coaching could help Yakupov get closer to the upside people thought he had when he went #1.  Not being your average coach, I think its conceivable at least.  It's a high-reward, essentially no-risk move.

What I would do is call up Eakins and get his intel as part of any decisionmaking.

[TBLeafer]

The main consideration is whether Babcock's coaching could help Yakupov get closer to the upside people thought he had when he went #1.  Not being your average coach, I think its conceivable at least.  It's a high-reward, essentially no-risk move.

What I would do is call up Eakins and get his intel as part of any decisionmaking.

I don't know if Eakins is the go to guy there. He didn't coach that roster very well.

[Dappleganger]

Yakupov's GF60 went up by almost 2 when on the ice with Connor McDavid. They played well together.

Well, sure. It's fairly likely McDavid will make the stats of whoever he plays with look better.

Actually, Connor generally had better stats playing with Yakupov. 67% offensive zone time. I thought they'd pair them together this year. Maybe someone should show the Oilers these stats.

The two of them had just over 200 minutes together so you're not talking about much of a sample size. I think when looked at in context with his numbers with other centers though you have to ask if Nail Yakupov makes everyone else worse how likely is it that he genuinely makes Connor McDavid better.

Here's McDavid:

http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/showplayer.php?pid=1315&withagainst=true&season=2015-16&sit=5v5

He's basically as good with anyone he spent any real time with as he is with Yakupov.

I think it's chemistry.

McDavid spent more time with only two other wingers. 3rd most time was with Yak (barring goalie and defence) and the stats are very comparable with the Yak pairing have the edge in some categories.

McDavid played roughly a 1/3 (32.8%) of his time with Yakapov and had a 67% offensive zone time, best on the team. I watched them play together. I thought there was something there.

I think Yak is the type of player who needs to play with talented players to produce. He can't create it himself but know what to do when he's there.

*Thanks for posting those stats btw. I remember reading an article last year, might have been before McDavid got hurt, that Yak was top 10 in points/60minutes while playing with Connor. Of course anyone could produce with McDavid but it seemed to make Yak come alive, while not being a detriment to McDavid either.

[Nik]

I think Yak is the type of player who needs to play with talented players to produce. He can't create it himself but know what to do when he's there.

I think that's part of the problem though. It's not like McDavid is Yakupov's first chance at playing with a talented player. He's played with Hall and Eberle and RNH and generally with all of them he's been pretty bad and dragged them down.

Even if you're right and he had some sort of unique chemistry with McDavid that allowed him to be really effective, you have to ask yourself if that's something he's likely to duplicate with anyone on the Leafs. Matthews will probably be a very good player at some point but in the next year or so he's not a guarantee to be significantly better than RNH and Kadri definitely isn't going to be Connor McDavid any time soon.

McDavid isn't just a talented player. If he'd been healthy all year, there's an excellent chance he would have come in 2nd in the league in scoring as a rookie. If that's the sort of guy Yakupov needs to be effective the Leafs are a bad spot for him.

[Nik]

The main consideration is whether Babcock's coaching could help Yakupov get closer to the upside people thought he had when he went #1.  Not being your average coach, I think its conceivable at least.  It's a high-reward, essentially no-risk move.

What I would do is call up Eakins and get his intel as part of any decisionmaking.

I think, especially based on what we just saw with Team Europe, you can make a pretty fair case that Yakupov has already had a number of pretty good head coaches, none of whom have been able to get any serious growth from him.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

The main consideration is whether Babcock's coaching could help Yakupov get closer to the upside people thought he had when he went #1.  Not being your average coach, I think its conceivable at least.  It's a high-reward, essentially no-risk move.

What I would do is call up Eakins and get his intel as part of any decisionmaking.

I don't know if Eakins is the go to guy there. He didn't coach that roster very well.

It's hard to say exactly what all went wrong with his stint out there but he was regarded as a very good judge of talent when he was at the Marlies IIRC.  I would want to know what he thinks of Yakupov's intangibles.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

The main consideration is whether Babcock's coaching could help Yakupov get closer to the upside people thought he had when he went #1.  Not being your average coach, I think its conceivable at least.  It's a high-reward, essentially no-risk move.

What I would do is call up Eakins and get his intel as part of any decisionmaking.

I think, especially based on what we just saw with Team Europe, you can make a pretty fair case that Yakupov has already had a number of pretty good head coaches, none of whom have been able to get any serious growth from him.

Sure, but Babcock's Babcock and no one else is.  And again, we're talking a no-cost acquisition here.  There's really very little downside to giving it a shot, especially since the experiment would likely play out pretty quickly one way or the other.

[Tigger]

Just for kicks, what's the likelihood of this?

[Boston Leaf]

I remember the whole Fail for Nail campaign.. Crazy,,,  reminds me of the Alexander Daigle situation. I think we should pass.. Work with the kids we have

[Nik]

Just for kicks, what's the likelihood of this?

Just at a glance it seems like the sort of thing that might happen but probably not soon. According to this here from the Edmonton Journal it looks like Yakupov is very much on the fringe of the roster but, that said, they seem pretty certain he's still going to make the team.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/hockey/edmonton-oilers/eight+oilers+points+ponder+nail+yakupov+likely/12248649/story.html

So this should probably be a general rumour rather than a media rumour. I can't find anything that suggests him being waived is imminent.

[sneakyray]

same gm who traded tyler seguin...and taylor hall.

it should be interesting to see how what happens in edmonton this year!

[TBLeafer]

same gm who traded tyler seguin...and taylor hall.

it should be interesting to see how what happens in edmonton this year!

Trades Draisaitl for Chara?

[bustaheims]

Here's the question - which player are you willing to bump off the Leafs' roster to give Yakupov a chance? I only see two real options - Greening or Michalek. Michalek has a much better NHL track record and, if he can stay healthy, should be a nice trade chip for the Leafs at the deadline (and, I'd say he has a higher likelihood of doing so than Yakupov). Greening makes for a much better bottom 6 winger than Yakupov. Looking at the roster, the cap, and the options, to me, it's a real simple no.